New & Current Releases
Archives: A-Z By Title
Archives: A-Z By Author
Advanced Search

All-Time High Scores
Best Of 2006
Best Of 2005
Best Of 2004
How Metascores Are Calculated
Discuss Books In Our Forums

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed books.

American Vertigo
Traveling America In The Footsteps Of Tocqueville
by Bernard-Henri Levy


7.5

based on 16 reviews
read critic reviews
how did we calculate this?

based on 2 votes
read user comments
rate this book

Compare prices at pricegrabber.com

Buy it at powells.com

Buy it at amazon.com

Buy it at amazon.co.uk

Official Publisher Site

The French celebrity philosopher known to fans as BHL offers a series of essays (some of which appeared in the Atlantic Monthly) that present an outsider's perspective of the current state of America, based on his extensive travels throughout the country.

Random House, 320 pages
01/24/2006
$24.95

ISBN: 1400064341

Nonfiction
Current Events & Politics
Essays
Travel

NOTES:
Translated from French to English by Charlotte Mandell.

All reviews are classified as one of five grades: Outstanding (4 points), Favorable (3), Mixed (2), Unfavorable (1) and Terrible (0). To calculate the Metascore, we divide total points achieved by the total points possible (i.e., 4 x the number of reviews), with the resulting percentage (multiplied by 100) being the Metascore. Learn more...

Entertainment Weekly Gilbert Cruz

Lévy superbly conveys multiple, sometimes contradictory ideas.

Publishers Weekly

In France, where anti-Americanism has been so popular, Levy has been an anti-anti-Americanist, and while he finds serious fissures in this country's social landscape, in the end he is an optimist about the future of a country he admires for the richness of its culture and its political vision. [12 Dec 2005, p.52]

Wall Street Journal Harvey Mansfield

American Vertigo is filled with insights and goodwill, but it would have been even richer had Mr. Lévy shown more appreciation for democracy in America, or "Democracy in America."

Booklist Jay Freeman

The result is an engaging but often-disturbing portrait of our nation from an eloquent, brutally honest foreigner who wishes our country well. [1 Jan 2006, p.48]

Boston Globe Michael Kammen

The author's attentiveness to contemporary politics and politicians keeps the book lively even when the jabs seem unfair or unreliable.

The Economist

American Vertigo is worth reading for these delicious details; it is doubly worth reading if it sends you back to de Tocqueville's original masterwork.

The Globe And Mail [Toronto] David Shribman

Apparently no one edited this book, insuring that no one will understand it. [28 Jan 2006, p.D5]

The New York Times William Grimes

American Vertigo feels like the kind of book a star might write: a disjointed collection of random observations, facile generalizations and MTV-style fast-cut takes on American popular culture, expressed in a high-flying rhetorical style that goes down well in France, but translates badly into English.

Christian Science Monitor Stacey Vanek Smith

So, if you can stomach a few sucker punches, American Vertigo has its gems. Lévy ends the book with a critical but fair view of the US, one that even the most patriotic reader can appreciate.

Houston Chronicle Charles Matthews

American Vertigo is a swamp of a book: trackless and confusing and often squishy where you expect it to be solid. But as with any swamp, if you're careful where you step and attentive to the surroundings, you may find things in it that are startling and useful.

San Francisco Chronicle Michael O'Donnell

The result is a book that is alternately exasperating and thrilling, turn-off and spot-on. Not unlike its subject.

USA Today Bob Minzesheimer

At turns, it's obvious, obtuse and insightful.

Library Journal Jack Forman

Many readers may feel more vertigo from his shoot-from-the-hip commentary than Levy himself experienced in his travels. [15 Feb 2006, p.136]

Kirkus Reviews

Those sharing Levy's politics will find comfort in his analysis; others will be dismayed by his banal observations and tiresome predictability. [1 Dec 2005, p.1267]

Los Angeles Times Marianne Wiggins

If Levy's book is good for one thing, it's that it makes us stop and think how blessed we are to have had a Frenchman lavish so much thought on our nation's future. Vive Monsieur de Tocqueville! [22 Jan 2006, p.R3]

The New York Times Book Review Garrison Keillor

Thanks for coming. Don't let the door hit you on the way out. For your next book, tell us about those riots in France, the cars burning in the suburbs of Paris. What was that all about? Were fat people involved?

The average user rating for this book is 7.5 (out of 10) based on 2 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Michael K gave it a9:
It was great fun reading this book during the 2006 midterm elections, since it represents BHL's thoughts on American culture as he traveled the country during the 2004 presidential elections. Garrison Keillor's chauvinism seems completely uncalled for, since the book is so America-friendly, albeit not totally uncritical.

Dr Shanthikuamr H gave it a6:
Philosophers and critics may air disjointed views but what they point to cannot be easily ignored, Levy is one of them.

Discuss this book in our forums

Return to top of page

American Vertigo Traveling America In The Footsteps Of Tocqueville by Bernard-Henri Levy

American Vertigo
Traveling America In The Footsteps Of Tocqueville
by Bernard-Henri Levy